


Parenthood

by rosworms



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Babies, Babyfic, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 13:10:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5627800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosworms/pseuds/rosworms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If I could deal with Voldemort… a baby will be easy. I'm still nineteen years old… I have plenty of energy to spare. How hard could it possibly be?" Harry and Ginny find out that Parenthood is not as easy as they thought.</p><p>(originally written in 2007. moved to ao3 in 2016)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Famous Last Words

"He's beautiful, Harry. Did you ever think you could have so much love for one person?" Ginny asked from her bed in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Harry looked down at the newborn in his wife's arms.

"I didn't even know what love was until there was you… and now I'm full of it. There's so much love that I don't know what to do with it all." He said. He started to think back on the events that had led him here. Two years ago, he never would have imagined himself in the hospital wing looking at his own son.

He and Ginny had married as soon as Harry graduated from Hogwarts even though she was still attending. He became the new DADA professor which meant his wife was his student for a year…. And the students loved to tease them about that. On the night of Ginny's graduation, she told Harry that she was pregnant.

Once the news of the child got around the wizarding world, Voldemort started making his moves… and it all lead up to the final battle only the night before. When Harry's family was threatened by the thing that took away his childhood family, he was filled with a power that was greater than anyone had ever seen. Voldemort didn't have a chance and was easily defeated.

Harry had arrived home from battle just in time for Ginny to go into labor… and now it was all over and he had a beautiful baby boy.

"What's his name?" Madame Pomphrey interrupted Harry's musings.

"Elias Harold Potter." Ginny said as she beamed with joy.

"Well… welcome to parenthood, kids." Poppy said with a grin.

"No problem, if I could deal with Voldemort… a baby will be easy. I'm still nineteen years old… I have plenty of energy to spare. How hard could it possibly be?"


	2. The Diaper From Heck

The crying was louder than anything Harry had ever heard… and it was right next to his head…. At 2:00 am.

"Ginny, feed your son," Harry grunted as he turned his back to the noise and tried to pull the blanket to his head. He silently cursed his wife for insisting that Elias sleep in their bed with them.

"He's your son too, Harry."

"Yes, but I'm not the one with an 'all you can eat' buffet on my chest," Harry retorted. The next sounds he heard was the shifting of fabric and Elias's crying quieted to grunting and then just quiet suckling.

"Thank God…" Harry muttered as he fell back to sleep.

Harry woke up again at 4:00 am, this time from Ginny shaking his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" He asked through the fog in his head.

"Elias needs a diaper change."

"….."

"Harry, did you hear me?"

"Yeah… so what do you want me to do about it?" Harry asked.

"Change him."

"But… why not you?"

"Because, Harry, you haven't changed one diaper yet and I'm tired. We've had a son for a week and it's time that you learn to change a diaper. Go." Ginny shoved Harry out of the bed and then handed him the baby.

Harry caught a wiff of the smell… the stench that came from his son.

"Oh God… you smell worse than death, and I know what death smells like. That is foul." He muttered as he carried Elias (keeping him as far from himself as possible) to the baby room with the changing table. He set the infant on the padded table and then looked at him in thought.

"Well, I guess the first thing I do is take the diaper off." Harry shrugged… it seemed easy enough. So he gingerly reached for the tabs on the diaper and pulled them apart. He pulled the diaper down and immediately started gagging.

"Oh… my… God. What in the world have you been eating?" Harry yelled, startling Elias into a full blown bawling cry.

"No, I didn't mean it! Please stop crying, Eli…. Daddy needs you to be quiet. If Mommy hears you crying, she'll know how badly I suck at this fatherhood thing. We don't want that… no we don't… good…. Quiet." Harry sighed as Elias started to quiet down again. Now he needed to tackle the next phase of Operation: Diaper Change. How to clean the little bum.

"OK…. I know there is something around here for this job. I remember Aunt Petunia always kept them around because Dudley refused to potty train for a long time." Then Harry had the best idea. He took his wand out of the leg holster that he always wore and he just cleaned up the mess with magic.

"Yes, your Daddy is a smart one. I bet your Mom never thought of this… and she was raised in he wizarding world." Harry smiled smugly. He put his wand back in the holster and then looked around the room for extra diapers.

"Where does your Mommy keep everything, little boy?" He muttered as he searched the room. He was checking the drawers under the changing table when he felt wetness on his back. He turned his head up just in time to get his face wet.

"What the- Elias your not supposed to pee when you aren't wearing a diaper! And right on my face!" Harry started yelling. He panicked and put his hands over Elias's offending member to try and stop the stream and when it stopped, he noticed the sound of laughter that was filling the room. He spun around and found Ginny standing in the doorway laughing at him.

"What are you doing there?" Harry asked?

"I could hear everything over the monitor spell we place on the room." She said.

"Oh…. Ok, well then…. You can finish here. I'm just gonna… go take a shower and get dressed then since it's too late to go back to sleep and I have to go back to work today." Harry muttered with a blush as he started to leave the room.

"So… not as easy as killing your arch nemesis and saving an entire world?" Ginny smirked at him.

"Shut up…"


	3. Women Rule

"Professor Potter, sir?" Harry awoke to his shoulder being shaken vigorously. In his half asleep state, he groggily reached for his wand and pointed it at the offender.

"Petrificus Totalus," He muttered and tried to move away. The shaking continued and he lifted his head up. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the nervous, but amused face of one of his second year students.

"Young Mss Bevins… what are you doing here?" Harry was genuinely confused.

"Um… it's time for class. You've been asleep since before we all got here," she said as she shuffled her feet shyly.

"Class?…..Oh!" He turned his head to see his classroom full of second year Slytherins and Gryffindors. He stood up from his chair, cringing as his back cracked from being slumped over the desk. He waved Lindsay Bevins back to her seat.

"Ah… I see. Thank you very much. Five points to Slytherin for waking me," Harry said in an authoritative voice. He raised his wand to start roll call when he noticed that he wasn't holding his wand, but a pointer stick instead.

"No wonder the spell didn't work," he muttered. "Er… why don't you all tell me how the substitute fared while I was away?" He asked as he dropped the pointer stick.

Later that week, Ginny had grown sick and tired of being isolated in their Hogwarts living quarters.

"Harry, let's just take Elias to dinner and eat in the Great Hall," she suggested.

"But what about the loud noise? Won't that bother him?" Harry asked.

"It's not that loud."

"What if he gets hungry?"

"Then I'll feed him," Ginny sighed.

"How!"

"With this!" Ginny pulled up her shirt and flashed Harry.

"No way! Unacceptable. I forbid you from breastfeeding out there," Harry shook his head.

"It's perfectly natural!"

"So is taking a piss, but you don't do that in the Great Hall. I'm not going to let everyone look at your- your…" Harry gestured towards his wife's chest.

"Breasts?"

"Yes!"

"Elias will be covering them. Nobody will see."

"I said no and I mean it." Harry put his foot down.

"Oh I see… The Almighty Boy Who Lived has forbidden me from leaving here, is that it?"

"No, you can go anywhere as long as you-"

"But I can't feed my child in public? You think that because you defeated the Dark Lord you can boss me around like it's the Middle Ages?" Ginny's voice dripped with sarcasm

"So this is all a joke to you? The dangers I faced just to keep you safe. I went through hell for most of my life and almost died at least once a year. I killed Voldemort to keep you safe!" Harry yelled.

"Oh yeah!" Ginny yelled back. She took two stalking steps towards him. "I've bled every month since I was eleven and then finally got a break for nine months… but in those nine months… I made, carried, and gave birth to your son. I was in labor for nine hours! I shoved a human being out through my vagina! And now for payback from the menstrual gods, I have my period for six straight weeks! I'll do whatever I damn well please!"

With that, Ginny spun on her heal and stalked out of the room, leaving behind a speechless husband.


	4. Poor Miss Adelaide

A few nights later, the… incident had not been mentioned. That could be partly due to the fact that Harry and Ginny had stopped speaking to each other… and it was driving them both crazy.

Harry's students had definitely noticed that their professor was not in a good mood. Their normally fair professor had started taking points from everyone for the tiniest of transgressions. Students had stopped staying after class to ask questions or to visit with their favorite professor, and he was left alone in his office for his required hour each day after classes (in case any students needed to talk to him).

This day, he was throwing sharpened quills at a painting like darts, much to the protest of the painting's occupant (who had run away when he wouldn't stop).

"Potter, stop torturing Miss Adelaide." A voice drawled out behind him.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked as he threw another quill.

"Well, a perfectly good potion was just ruined when Miss Adelaide came running into Severus's office, startling me and causing me to knock the cauldron over." The blonde came up behind Harry and grabbed the rest of the quills away from him. Harry spun around to look at him.

"And was Snape upset enough about the spill to cancel your apprenticeship? Will you never be a Potions Master now?"

"No. Actually, I'm expected to complete the training a year ahead of time." Draco smirked.

"Well, I'll try harder next time."

"Oh come off it, Potter. What is your problem? Everybody knows about your fight with Mrs. Potter… why don't you just apologize and get back to your life so that your students can stop complaining about how you've become worse than their Professor Snape." Draco sat on the edge of Harry's desk.

"And why should I be the one to apologize? I just didn't think that it would be prudent to bring the baby to the Great Hall and have her feed him there. It's a perfectly fine concern."

"You know that's not the real reason. You were just trying to find ways to keep Ginny and Elias away from everyone else. I was there on the battlefield with you, Harry." He deliberately used Harry's first name when he spoke. "I was there with you. I saw what He did to you and said to you…and I know how he used your family against you before Elias was even born."

Harry suddenly found his cuticles to be very interesting and just stared at them.

"Harry… you can't keep them locked away forever. The big danger is gone… for real this time. You have to apologize and let them live normally. And someday you will have to tell Ginny about all that went down in the final battle."

"I know. Thank you, Malfoy… Draco. This still doesn't mean we're friends." Harry smiled at him. He was rewarded with the trademark Malfoy smirk.

"Of course not. A Malfoy and a Potter will never be friends. We're just acquaintances."

That night, Harry watched as his wife put their son to sleep.

"Let him stay in his bassinet tonight, Ginny." Harry told her.

She gave him a confused look, but did as he said and then followed Harry back to their own bed. She changed into pajamas and then got in bed and turned away from him.

"Ginny…" Harry whispered. He got up on his elbow and looked over her shoulder. "Gin… honey, I'm sorry." That got her to roll onto her back and look at him.

"But why did you-"

"I was afraid." Harry interrupted her.

"Afraid of what?"

"I was trying to keep you and Elias safe… by keeping you here away from everybody. But, I know I can't do that. I know in my mind that the real danger is gone, but it's hard for my heart to accept it… I keep expecting Him to come back and take you away from me."

"Oh Harry…" Ginny reached up and caressed his cheek. "You'll never lose us. We're here forever."

And the fight had finally ended… and for the first time since the second trimester before Elias was born, they made love and slept in each others arms.


	5. If Babies Were Evil... Which They Aren't

A few months later…

"When does he get to eat food?" Harry asked Ginny as she breastfed Elias. He was starting to feel jealous and wanted to join in the fun of feeding time.

"Not for another month or so, Harry.. And it's just strained fruits and veggies with rice cereal."

"Which first?"

"What?"

"Fruits or veggies?"

"Well… whichever you want. You can choose Elias's first foods if you want to." Ginny smiled up at her husband… and for some reason, Harry felt more proud of himself for being able to do this than he had for any other task he was chosen to do in the wizarding world.

"Veggies…." Harry said after thinking for a while.

"You sure seemed to take time thinking about that…. So why veggies?"

"Because fruits taste better. If he has fruits first, then he'll be greatly disappointed with the veggies. If we start with veggies first… then fruits will be a good surprise."

"ooookaaayy… good for you, Harry. Here, you can explain this all to Elias while you give him his bath and I go get changed for the night."

Suddenly Harry's happiness turned to terror.

"B-but… I haven't given him a bath yet. You've been doing it this whole time." He stammered as Ginny handed Elias to him. Elias giggled and reached for his father's hair which had grown longer in the last few months.

"Oh, Harry…. You've watched me give him a bath before. You always watch actually because you just want to play with him while I do the work. You can share now." Ginny grinned.

"I do not just want to- OW! Oh…. Honey…. Eli…ow... That's Daddy's hair you got." Ginny disappeared into the next room while Harry was distracted and so he decided to work out a battle plan as soon as he pulled his hair free from Elias's grip.

"OK…. First we fill the sink with warm water… then get you all nakey-butt… then we get you washed up and then dry you up, lotion you up, diaper you up, and…. Get you into a pajama onesie…. That should work." Harry nodded to Elias.

Elias looked back at his father with a grin that could be described as evil… if babies were evil… which they aren't….


	6. WARNING: Noxious Fumes

Harry had the sink all ready and had Elias all naked.

"There ya go, Elias. It's bath time." He set the four month old in the water and grabbed the baby soap. As he leaned over to soap up Elias, he was surprised when a shot of urine sprayed him in the face.

"Ack! Oh yuck gross!" Harry yelled as he stepped back. His loud yell surprised Elias and he started crying. Harry, temporarily blinded by the urine in his eyes, tried to take a step forward and slipped on some of the splashed water and fell, his head making a loud thud on the stone floor.

Elias screamed now in delight at the fun show that his father unwillingly put on for him.

"Harry?" Ginny called from the other room. There was no answer from the fallen man.

"Harry, how's the bath coming- Harry!" Ginny stopped when she saw him unconscious on the floor. Her gaze went from her husband to the squealing baby in the sink.

"The Great Harry Potter brought down by his bouncing baby boy…" She giggled as she stepped over Harry's body to finish Elias's bath.

That night, Harry was lying on the couch with an ice pack on the back of his head. Elias was rolling on the floor, laughing at the silly noises that Draco Malfoy was making.

"Who knew that a baby could turn Malfoy into a big pile of mush?" Harry laughed softly. Ginny had asked Draco to watch over both Elias and Harry while she ran some errands.

"And who knew that a baby could overthrow the mighty Potter? If you must know, that IS the only reason that I am so fond of your son anyway." Draco smirked.

"Ha ha… very funny.. Ugh. I think he needs a diaper change. Elias… boy we need to stick a 'noxious fumes' warning sign on your butt." Harry made a face (AN: my cousin's baby has a onesie with a warning sign). Draco picked up Elias and put him on the nearest changing table. He smoothly changed the diaper without any problems or slip ups.

"I hate you." Harry sighed.

"Now why?" Draco asked, bouncing Elias in his arms.

"How are you so good with my baby and I do everything wrong?"

"Well, that's an easy one to answer." Draco said.

"So…?"

"You're so worried about doing everything exactly right and so you end up dong everything wrong. I go with the flow and everything turns out fine." Draco handed Elias to Harry and Elias' eyes lit up when he got to his father.

"I just don't want to screw up his life." Harry said as he 'took Elias' nose'.

"He loves you… you can't screw that up," Draco shrugged.

"And when did you become so wise?"

"I'm Draco Malfoy." He shrugged.

(AN: I wasn't sure about keeping this next section or not…. So if you don't like, it just ignore it.)

"Mama, I just don't know what's wrong with him." Ginny sighed. She sat with her mother at the Burrow. "It seems like every time he tries to do something with Elias himself, something goes horribly wrong. I mean… the man was knocked unconscious while giving Elias a bath… and I think all these things make him reluctant to be more involved. I'm almost scared to leave him alone with the baby."

"Almost Ginny? You didn't leave him alone…" Her mother chided.

"But not for those reasons! I was worried for Harry also. He was unconscious and refused to see Poppy afterwards… so Draco is only there just in case the head injury is worse than we thought." Ginny defended herself.

"Don't worry so much, dear. You'll just make poor Harry more apprehensive about caring for Elias."

"How can I not worry? Why do these things keep happening?"

"Ginny, your father was the same way when we first became parents. He was so scared about breaking your brother. He worried himself to distraction and clumsiness. Don't worry about this, dear… it gets better. He'll be a pro by the time you have your next child." Molly comforted. She then changed gears quickly.

"So when will you be bringing my grandson by here again?"


	7. Wac A Mole

A few more months and one concussion later, Harry and Elias were once more in the company of Draco Malfoy while Ginny was away at Diagon Alley. This time, Draco's presence was more at the insistence of Madame Pomphrey due to Harry's concussion.

"C'mon, kid! Come to Uncle Draco." The blonde was on the floor, making the little brunette boy practice his crawling. It wasn't that the child needed the practice, but Draco found it a hilarious activity to watch.

"Uncle Draco?" Harry asked from the couch.

"Well, I don't see why not. You have no siblings and Elias sees more of me than he does of the Weasleys. I'm perfectly suited to be called 'Uncle'." Draco held his head high, showing his aristocratic self and Harry snorted with amusement.

"Well… then 'Uncle' you shall be, but we're still not friends. Here, try this. The kid loves this stuff." Harry leaned down and set an unopened can of Irn-Bru in front of Draco and motioned for him to get Elias's attention.

"Of course we're not. I only tolerate you because the baby has entranced me. God, Harry, how can you drink this stuff….Eli, look at this! Come here." Draco said enthusiastically.

Elias caught site of the little aluminum can and immediately stiffened in excitement. The little eight month old pushed himself from his current sitting position and got on his hands and knees. Then came the part that always delighted any adult who watched. Elias pushed up again and crawled not on his hands and knees, but on his hands and feet like a four legged animal.

"Where did he learn to crawl like that?" Draco asked through his laughter as the little one reached the can and picked it up and tried to drink from the unopened can.

"I don't know. I imagine he's been taking lessons from Mrs. Norris." Harry picked up the little boy and put him on his knee.

"A poochoh dikum!" Elias babbled happily. Harry started bouncing the knee and the babbling turned into a constant drone of "ahhhhh….." as Elias was fascinated by how his own voice bounced with him.

Draco stayed in his spot on the floor and turned up to the man and the baby.

"So have you told your wife yet?"

"Told her what?"

"You know what. We had this conversation way back when Eli was only two weeks old, I think."

"Oh that. No, I don't see the need to tell her every little detail about the final battle. She knows what most other people know and it's sufficient. Besides, I've gotten over it on my own. And I've been much better at taking care of Elias without Ginny to save me all the time."

"That's why I'm babysitting you both?" Draco smirked.

"One concussion… and it wasn't even my fault. This little hellion has been crazy ever since he learned to crawl. Though maybe I should've made sure he couldn't reach the hammer while I was putting together that new crib…" Harry trailed off as he thought of his little mistake that lead to his son playing a game of 'Wac-A-Mole' with his father's head when Harry wasn't paying attention.

"You could have put it together with your wand. I don't understand why you insist on doing some thing the muggle way." Draco was clearly disgusted at the thought of manual labor.

"It's relaxing. I was raised by muggles and did that kind of work all the time." Harry pointed out.

"You were raised like house-elf, Harry. It's a wonder you didn't become the next Dark Lord yourself." Draco sneered, ignoring the annoyed look that Harry gave him. The small amount of tension that built in that moment was broken when Elias suddenly began to babble again.

"Dikum stikoo abba anda Apa gi'ee baba mik." Elias had grabbed his daddy's shirt and pulled himself into a standing position on Harry's lap and looked the man in the face as he said this.

"What?" Draco asked, not understanding any of it.

"Um… I understood 'Apa'… Papa. And I think then 'baba mik'… bottle of milk." Harry translated.

"Dikum?" Draco asked.

"I don't know…. Nobody knows. It's his favorite baby word, I guess. He says it all the time." Harry shrugged. Draco stood from the floor and started for the kitchen.

"Milk?" Draco asked.

"No… food. It's about dinner time. He can have mashed potatoes and yucky mushed carrots tonight." Harry grimaced. Draco went to prepare the food since Harry wasn't supposed to leave the couch except for bathroom breaks by orders of Pomphrey and Ginny.

"By the way, I was dropping off some healing potions this morning and Madame Pomphrey asked me to remind you that Elias is due for another check up this week. And that reminds me… the other day while I was watching him during your class, he got into some potion ingredients. Nothing bad, but Severus noticed a slight reaction to one ingredient and wanted you to tell Pomphrey to check for allergies." Draco called from the kitchen. Harry groaned at the mention of the man.

"Oh… and I really shouldn't tell you this…." Draco was back and leaning over the couch, looking at Harry with a mischievous grin, "but while Severus was healing the little rash, I swear I heard that man baby-talking to the kid. And… I saw a smile."

"What? No… not Snape. That man hates kids."

"I bet he's just worried about his reputation as evil bat. I think I should baby-sit during my apprentice studies more often." And he was off again, back into the kitchen.

"Nah… Draco already baby-sits enough, doesn't he? Yes, he does." Harry nodded at Elias, who copied him and nodded enthusiastically.


End file.
